Support for Lawton's Family Farm Forces Delay in Board of Heath Public Hearing

With a capacity crowd inside the meeting room at the Public Safety Building and more unable to get in, tonight’s Board of Health public hearing, or lack there of, may have been a small victory for the Lawtons.

It was expected that the board was going to hold a public hearing to discuss the rules and regulations relative to the sale of distribution of unpasteurized raw milk but overcrowding at the Foxboro Public Safety building prevented the hearing from starting.

With the meeting room hitting capacity with 80 people inside and 60 more in the lobby, the Board of Health voted to end the meeting and delay the public hearing until a date and venue to be named later.

The meeting was ended without opening the public hearing.

The vast majority of those attending were there in support of the Lawtons, whose farm on North Street would be effected by the proposed regulations. Lawton’s Family Farm currently sells unpasteurized raw milk and is the only seller of the product in Norfolk County.

“I’m overwhelmed. They don’t buy milk from us, they just support us. It’s kinda heartwarming and it settled my anxiety. With a bigger venue, maybe we’ll double the crowd,” Ed Lawton said.

After the meeting, many in attendance were seen giving money to Terri Lawton to help pay for the family's legal representation.

The public hearing was expected to start at 7:45 p.m. Monday evening but it was evident that the room was not large enough for the crowd nor would everyone be able to listen to the hearing.

Planning board member Gordon Greene made the initial suggestion from the crowd to postpone the hearing and move it to a bigger venue.

Lawton later asked for a postponement in order to move to a bigger room.

Fire Chief Roger Hatfield suggested clearing out the fire trucks and holding the meeting in the fire department’s garage but the board did not feel comfortable holding the hearing in a cold area that would be standing room only.

Other suggestions included using iPhones to conduct a FaceTime chat so people outside the room could listen to the hearing and swapping people in and out of the room based on who wanted speak during the hearing but various legal and safety concerns prevented any action.

The board will have to repost and re-announce the new date of the hearing and the location once it is decided.